Tandoori Empire Restaurant — Restaurant in Charnwood

Ok so I never ever leave reviews but I feel I must this time. We have used Tandoori Empire for takeaways and to sit down previously. We chose to eat here having carefully selected where we’d like to go and for various reasons. I prebooked and was happy to have confirmation and a friendly text and email. We got to Quorn early living only in the next village. We had a drink in a pub and went in to TE for the time we’d booked only to be told they were too busy to sit us down. No drink offered while we waited and no table or area to wait. We were asked to come back in 15 minutes. This resulted in us going to the nearest pub and paying £10 for more drinks. I had to send my husband back to check the table was ready which it was. Prompt service and all seemed ok bar the bad start. We absolutely loved all the food and were delighted with it. Then it went wrong. We had food left so we asked to take it home. At no stage did anyone explain what happens when you do this. We got the bill and the 3 poppadoms and chutney tray seemed extortionate and there was a further £1.50 added on to that part of the bill. I enquired and was told it was £2.50 for the chutneys. Because it still didn’t add up I asked if that was per person and he ignored me and walked away. My husband and I then had a disagreement about the extra £1.50. It was bugging me so I called another guy over again and asked what the £1.50 was for. He went off and asked the first guy who gave him a menu and told him to speak with me. He said it’s a charity donation which I’d have been happy with until he foolishly pointed at the typed part of the menu that said 25p donation. So I said that’s wrong then. Why £1.50? The first guy then came back over and said the £1.50 is for the foil container for the food we were taking home. That was it then and I couldn’t help myself. I said no one explained this, they’d lied to me anyway and I’d asked and asked to be met with these lies. Then I said hang on, you kept us waiting for the table, charged for a container then lied. He then blamed another diner for over running with her table which then impacted on us sitting down. Just a blame culture. We’d have been fine with the delay IF they’d been better hosts and thought outside the box. My husband and I had a huge argument as he doesn’t like confrontation and just agreed with the main guy which the main guy delighted in. He didn’t even take the £1.50 off so despite my husbands outcry to me I refused to leave a tip. We won’t be returning to this curry house unless they address what happened and the lies told. Why didn’t they say we will charge you £1.50 for the container so it was transparent? Why keep lying? If they’d like to offer some sort of goodwill gesture for us to return we will return as the food was amazing but bad business is bad business and you don’t blame other customers when all we expected was fairness. If it were my business I’d have done what other places do and offered free poppadoms for the wait. I certainly wouldn’t be so cheeky as to charge them £1.50 for a container given our delayed table. So these containers are literally pennies. Every time they charge £1.50 to an unknowing customer they make a fortune. These £1.50’s all add up. I’d have taken my own container if I’d known!!! Which they invariably probably wouldn’t allow. We saw friends later by chance who said they’d also been for a curry somewhere else and as their table was also delayed they were given free poppadoms. If TE want repeat business why behave like this? It’s such a shame because the food was amazing. We don’t use our very very local curry house because many years ago we ordered a takeaway and my husband went to collect it. He was 10p short as it was cash only. The owner made him go home to get the 10p again because he simply couldn’t think outside the box. He returned with 20p and with a smile, said keep the change 😂😂 We use a lot of curry houses and some are simply amazing. It all depends on how owners see their business model and how much they value...

Ordered a takeaway from here, was ready on time and was greeted in a friendly manner upon entry.

However, when I reached home the food was a completely different story. Ordered the chilli paneer, there was 5 small pieces of paneer deep friend in batter and coated with Thai sweet chill sauce. Covered in oil and onions. As well as being extremely greasy, it was way too sweet and not what I expected from a very popular dish that I have tried in many other restaurants. The next dish was the mixed vegetable tawa, again overly sweet and covered in onions. Barely any vegetables in there other than a couple of potatoes. My wife had two bites of this and left the rest.

I ordered a chicken tikka masala. The quality of the chicken was below standard and again, the dish seemed to be have been made with a bag of a sugar.

I rang the restaurant soon after and was just met with a very defensive response, the gentleman I spoke to wasn't rude but essentially implied that it was my fault for ordering dishes that were meant to be sweet. I have never had a chilli paneer or a mixed vegetable tawa that was sweet, even a chicken tikka masala surely can't taste of a bag of sugar. I didn't get a chance to complain about the naan breads which were burnt black because I knew from the response I received, it wasn't really going to go anywhere. I have never known a restaurant where the customer complains and is essentially told that they are wrong because they ordered the wrong dishes.

To top it all off, both my wife and myself experienced an upset stomach soon after. I definitely would not recommend...

Update on my review as I cant do another. Just came here for my birthday meal on Saturday night 2nd August 2025!!! We had a large table & omg the staff was amazing, good was ridiculously good & everything came out near enough together! So reasonably priced too!!

I & my husband came here last night. We were mostly enticed in by the "bring your own drinks" ( it is January & times are hard) the place was busy & I liked that. I hate going places where there are only a few people. The service was quick & very helpful. The food was delicious & we were given complimentary onion bhajees which were amazing & a lovely touch ( who doesn't like free food?) My only issue & I wouldn't actually call it that was that the online price/menu is different. I am unsure if that one's a takeaway one but I couldn't find anywhere that said so. Ultimately though a really lovely place...